TOWARDS A REGENERATIVE APPROACH
Companies using business to reach systems-level goals offer insight into what can be understood as a “regenerative approach” for corporations. In our interpretation, this entails a corporate commitment to take action that “goes beyond” the status quo to deliver systems change. This view of the term emphasises a holistic and proactive regeneration of environmental, social, and even economic systems. It opens space for diverse strategies for change encompassing leadership, sourcing, and ecological regeneration, as well as work with consumers, technology, and activism.
FRAMEWORK FOR IDENTIFYING CORE CHARACTERISTICS OF REGENERATIVE BUSINESS MODELS 10
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PURPOSE
NETWORKS
OWNERSHIP
REGENERATION
IMPACT What is the impact of the organization on society and the natural environment? What is the impact of the business on wider sustainability transition? How is it measured and communicated?
Why does the organization exist?
What are its networks?
Who owns the organization?
What exactly is being regenerated?
What purpose is it in service to? Is it focused on maximizing financial returns, or on a living purpose bigger than itself?
How does it relate to its customers, members, staff, volunteers, suppliers, neighbours, allies? Are they aligned with its purpose and values?
Who owns the assets that it holds? Is it owned by a founding entrepreneur, a family, shareholders, the state, or its own employees?
Which aspect of the business model is regenerative? What strategies are being
employed by the organization to be regenerative?
Das and Bocken. “Regenerative Business Strategies: A Database and Typology to Inspire Business Experimentation towards Sustainability.” Sustainable Production and Consumption, vol. 49, 1 Sept. 2024, pp. 529–544. 10
BEYOND SUSTAINABILITY 15
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